Bihar PSC exam protest: Prashant Kishor says candidates suspect massive corruption

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Monday alleged corruption in the conduct of the recent BPSC exam, saying “crores of rupees have changed hands”. He also attacked chief minister Nitish Kumar, saying at a time when thousands of students are protesting and seeking re-examination, the JD(U) founder is in the national capital "having a good time".

Nearly five lakh candidates had appeared at more than 900 centres across the state for the Combined Competitive Exams conducted by the BPSC. At one of the exam centres in Patna, hundreds of candidates boycotted the test alleging that question papers were "leaked". The allegation was refuted by the Bihar Public Service Commission, which alleged a "conspiracy" to get the exams cancelled.

The Bihar police on Sunday night used water cannons and lathi-charge to disperse the protesting students.

"The candidates are protesting in biting cold, braving baton charges by police and water cannons. The CM is away in Delhi, and having a good time. He did not utter a single word when reporters in the national capital approached him with queries on the stir," Prashant Kishor told PTI.

Prashant Kishor claims jobs put on sale

Prashant Kishor claimed the BPSC wasn't ready to cancel the exam because of corruption.

"Today, I am sharing something that I have been hearing for some time. The protesting candidates believe that BPSC's reluctance to order a fresh examination stems from the fact that crores of rupees have already changed hands. Posts to be filled up through the December 13 test had been put on sale," he alleged.

Prashant Kishor said he did not want to push further the scandalous charge but looked forward to a "positive outcome" after chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena showed willingness to speak to a delegation of students.

"As of now, the future of our young students should be the top priority. We can play the game of politics later," said the 47-year-old.

Kishor also reacted to police complaints against some of his party's colleagues, saying they did nothing wrong.

"What have we been held guilty of? No vandalism took place. The movement of no VIP convoy was obstructed. Nor was any public event affected by our programme. On the contrary, we believe many police officials went into an overdrive and we will file a complaint against them in court," Kishor said.

With inputs from PTI